Chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council Dr. Rashad al-Alimi said on Monday that the latest escalation by the Iran-backed terrorist Houthi group was a new test to the international community’s commitment to protecting peace in the country.
During a meeting in Riyadh with ambassadors whose countries are sponsoring the peace process in Yemen, he stressed that the legitimate government “did not start the escalation and did not seek it”.
The government “will not allow its commitment to peace to be exploited by the Houthis to launch attacks and then later be confronted with calls for restraint when it chooses to retaliate”, he declared.
Al-Alimi briefed the envoys on the Houthi ballistic missile and drone attacks on al-Mokha port on Yemen’s west coast. He said the attack, which claimed civilian lives including women and children, targeted civilian and services infrastructure, not a military position.
The attack was the latest in a weekslong Houthi escalation that started with the militants’ attempt to operate flights for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps at Sanaa International Airport, he went on to say.
That was followed by the Houthis’ targeting of commercial vessels and civilian locations in neighboring Saudi Arabia, he added.
The government has long been committed to peace, calm and restraint, he said. It facilitated operations at airports and marine ports, as well as the flow of goods. It cooperated with UN and international efforts for peace “despite the political and economic cost”.
“It did so out of its conviction that Yemeni lives are above all else”, al-Alimi stated, while holding the “lax” international position towards Yemen in recent years responsible for the current situation.
The political and field situation has now changed, he went on to say. The Houthis “must realize that the phase of carrying out attacks without consequences is over.”
He called on the international community to assume its responsibility in protecting the international order, starting with civilians and civilian infrastructure, as well as trade ports, respect for sovereignty of nations and rejecting the use of missiles and drones to impose illegitimate political or economic gains.
He warned that silence over the escalation will not help restore calm, but the Houthis may use it to continue their attacks.
He demanded a clear international political position that condemns the Houthis’ targeting of ports and civilians, as well as support for the right of the legitimate government in protecting its people and institutions under international law.
